Cousin Beth & Hunter

Cousin Beth and her boyfriend Hunter stopped by for a visit this weekend. Lots of fun.

Roll-Over

We witnessed our first (unassisted) roll-over. Here's an action sequence . . .

VICTORY!!! BYE SQUIRREL!

The day has finally arrived! Squirrel no longer lives in the attic. Her sharp wit finally failed her; she was nabbed in my irresistible peanut butter trap.

BYE SQUIRREL: THE MOVIE

(click on the jailed Squirrel to see the documentary)

My attic trips have become less frequent over the past few weeks. I think that I was feeling slightly defeated. However, on a whim, I thought that I should check the attic. When I got up there, I could see that the trap had sprung. At first I was a little nervous and thought that I had waited too long to check the trap and that Squirrel had thieved her last acorn. But, when I got close to the trap Squirrel lunged at me and gnashed at the wire trap. She was the same old Squirrel I had grown to hate.

I brought her downstairs and took some victory photos.

Then I loaded her in the trunk of the car and drove about 10 miles to the local county park - down by the river. The trip took about 30 minutes as a result of my efforts to completely disorient Squirrel so she could not find her way back (many loops, circles, backtracks, and occasionally driving in reverse).

Although I was tempted to fit her little clawed paws into tiny concrete shoes and launch her into the river, I decided that I would be best to set her free.

As you can see, even after I used a stick to jam the trap open, Squirrel did not flee. I even tried to scare her by tossing a second stick in her general direction (you can see this attempt in the magnificent movie I have included). It seriously took Squirrel 10 minutes to decide it was safe to flee into the woods.




If you look just below the boat you can see Squirrel escaping into the woods.





My top-notch production company put together a little documentary to show the highlights of the event. Please enjoy the short movie at the top of the post by clicking on the jailed Squirrel.

Time for us to finally enjoy some peaceful non-Squirrel-scratching sleep (in between Luke waking up to eat every couple of hours).

Pops and Aunt M

We had overlapping out-of-town visitors last week. Pops was in town on business for 2 days, and Aunt Mary was finishing up her week with Luke.

Pictures

Some quick pictures:

Out on a walk. Luke's favorite sleeping position (on a person, head WAY back).










More head-back shots










(close-up of him enjoying that bottle)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. . . .

Here are some pictures of our Mother's Day.

Doctor Visit

We went to the Doctor for Luke's 2 month check-up on Friday. He is doing really well.

On a positive note: The Doctor claims that while he was checking Luke out, he rolled over! It seemed more like a flailing flop around the Doctor's hands, but since he is the professional we will take him at his word. So, that was the first one. In honor of the turn over, here is Luke on his stomach.








On an unfortunate note: The Doctor also gave Luke his first set of 4 immunization shots! It was definitely rough. Here is a picture of Luke and Lauren consoling each other outside the Doctor's office.

Aunt M - the "Graduate"

Aunt Mary flew in for her first Luke visit.




They were so excited that they coordinated their clothes.











We celebrated Aunt Mary's recent birthday. We also celebrated the completion of her Master's Degree -- you are looking at a full-fledged Librarian now!

(What you can't see in this picture is Luke bawling as a result of his dad's well-meaning, but entirely too loud, congratulatory clapping.)


Aunt Mary has been wowing Luke with the little-known secrets of the marvelous Dewey Decimal system.

Luke's Friends

Luke visited with his first baby-girl-friend, Elizabeth, and her older brother Laurens the other day.




















The moms had a great time too (Oh - and notice Luke's signature move. The upside-down-staring "flying fish" arch).

6 Week Comparisons

Check out Luke's progress.

In the hospital (2 days old) vs. 6 1/2 weeks old:












St. Patrick's Day (9 days old) vs. 7 1/2 weeks old:













What a difference 6 weeks makes!

Hot, Spicy & Loud

Threatening Squirrel with a stick did not work. The trap did not work. Plugging the holes in the roof did not work. Pounding on my ceiling did not work. I don’t really like the direction this is going.

Squirrel sure seems to like my attic. This little fact triggered a thought (a rare treat in my head). Perhaps I will make Squirrel’s attic experience unpleasant. If I make it unpleasant enough, Squirrel will decide that the outside is really a superior location.


Off to the store I went. I purchased 3 big bags of red hot chile peppers. I crushed them up and coated the entire attic with them. My lips were stinging from the chili-heat by the end of the task.

Then I took an old radio and placed it near where I believe Squirrel hangs out. I turned it on full blast to an AM talk radio station.


We’ll see how much Squirrel enjoys that attic while feeling a bit of burning fire and being subjected to constant annoying jabbering with a steady high-pitched hum (it is an old radio . . .).

Oh yea - while I was up there, I did a thorough inspection. I did NOT find a nest or any new evidence of babies. So that is a mystery.



But, I did find my trap flung to the ground (with nothing in it). Squirrel
did a number to the trap. It had been knocked off of the flat air duct and was upside down. I am not sure if I should take this to mean that Squirrel has a renewed interest in the trap, or if she is just sending me a message that she can dump the food out of the trap and toss it to the side.